"It has been decided but we will announce it in the next few days" - Sanjiv Goenka on whether Rishabh Pant or Pooran will captain LSG in IPL 2025
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka has disclosed that they have decided potentially between Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran as their captain for IPL 2025 and that the announcement will be made soon. He also revealed how the franchise arrived at the final bid amount for Pant in the IPL 2025 auction.
LSG retained Pooran for ₹21 crore ahead of the auction. They subsequently acquired Pant for ₹27 crore, the most expensive buy in IPL history, at the mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener opined that the Lucknow Super Giants captain will likely be a wicketkeeper-batter. He asked Goenka whether it would be Pant or a surprise.
"People get surprised very quickly. According to me, I don't give surprises. It has been decided but we will announce it in the next few days," Goenka replied (3:50).
Goenka was also asked why they gave a final bid amount of ₹27 crore for Pant.
"They (Delhi Capitals) bid for Shreyas (Iyer) till ₹26.50 crore. That means for their No. 1 player, they had that kind of a budget, and knowing Parth's (Jindal) extreme fondness for Rishabh, I felt they might spend a little more on him than they would on Shreyas. So that is why two bid amounts extra," he responded.
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) outbid the Delhi Capitals (DC) to acquire Shreyas Iyer for ₹26.75 crore. DC tried to use the Right To Match card for Rishabh Pant when LSG was the highest bidder at ₹20.75 crore. However, the Capitals opted not to use the RTM card when the Lucknow-based franchise raised the bid amount to ₹27 crore.
"Zak, JL, and the captain will decide that" - Sanjiv Goenka on whether Rishabh Pant will open for LSG in IPL 2025
![Rishabh Pant didn't open for the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/12/d02db-17331175444031-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same video, Aakash Chopra asked Sanjiv Goenka whether Rishabh Pant will open for the Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025.
"We decided that we had to make our middle order strong and have an Indian core. However, auctions don't go exactly the way you plan it. We made a very big go for Jos Buttler but we fell one or two bid amounts short. Zak (Zaheer Khan) JL (Justin Langer), and the captain will decide it," he replied (4:30).
While naming a few opening options, the RPSG group chairperson pointed out that mentor Zaheer Khan, head coach Justin Langer, and the captain will together take the final call.
"Options are to open with Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh, Marsh and Rishabh Pant, or Markram and Rishabh. Now that is a call they have to take whether Rishabh will come at No. 3 or No. 2. Those are calls that frankly are beyond my capability and competence," Goenka said.
"Zak has a thought process and I think he has already spoken to the captain a couple of times, and I think Zak, Langer and the captain will be meeting soon together, and all three of them will have a conversation and they will take a call. Whatever their call is, I will support it 100 percent," he added.
Pant batted at No. 3 for India in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Although he has primarily batted in the middle order in the IPL, the destructive wicketkeeper-batter opened for India in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup and for Delhi in domestic cricket at the start of his career.